Ta Shma
429 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 55 ratingsBringing you recent lectures, classes, and programs from the Hadar Institute, Ta Shma is where you get to listen in on the beit midrash. Come and listen on the go, at home, or wherever you are. Hosted by Rabbi Avi Killip of the Hadar Institute.
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Episodes
R. Mich'ael Rosenberg: Return, Ascent, and Bloodied Wings
September 22, 2022 14:35 - 20 minutes - 28.2 MBThe High Holidays are a murky time of transition. How can we balance the need to both take stock of our past and look forward to the future? In this lecture, Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg considers different visions of teshuvah to guide us through this important part of the calendar. This lecture was originally recorded in Elul 2021.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Nitzavim: Torah of Teshuvah, Part 1
September 21, 2022 17:06 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBParashat Nitzavim falls in the thick of the season of teshuvah in the calendar. This is no coincidence—it is the primary source in the Torah for the concept of teshuvah. Although we will sin and face the consequences of our failures, Nitzavim teaches that we can find our way back to a life of blessing.
R. Elie Kaunfer: The Deeper Meaning of Avinu Malkeinu
September 19, 2022 15:21 - 54 minutes - 74.5 MBWhere does Avinu Malkeinu come from, why do we say it on Rosh Hashanah, and what does it mean to call God “Our Father, Our King?” Rabbi Elie Kaunfer considers these questions in his lecture, which was originally recorded in Elul 2021.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Ki Tavo: Reenacting Sinai
September 14, 2022 16:30 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBIn Parashat Ki Tavo, Moshe instructs the people to do an extensive ceremony when they come to a specific mountain after they enter the land. Many aspects of this ceremony are reminiscent of Sinai. A mountain, words of Torah written on stones, building an altar and offering sacrifices. It looks like a reenactment of entering into a covenant with God at Sinai and all of the obligations entailed by berit. But why is there a need to reenact Sinai? Wasn’t that one-time event powerful enough on it...
R. Elie Kaunfer: Who By Fire? The Most Controversial Prayer in Jewish Life
September 12, 2022 15:51 - 52 minutes - 72.5 MBRabbi Elie Kaufner explores the themes and intertextual references in Unetaneh Tokef. This lecture was originally recorded in Elul 2021.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Ki Teitzei: Sexual Ethics - Consent, Community, Covenant
September 07, 2022 19:35 - 9 minutes - 9.08 MBExercising leadership means taking responsibility. At the end of last week’s parashah, Shoftim, elders of a town closest to an unsolved murder proclaim they bear no responsibility for the murder and ask for atonement. Yet the Talmud learns from this ceremony of disclaiming guilt that leaders nonetheless bear responsibility—for example, to provide proper accompaniment as travelers leave their city. Blood of the heifer drips down their hands as they claim they have no blood on their hands.
R. Aviva Richman: Kingship in the Machzor
September 06, 2022 14:56 - 49 minutes - 68.7 MBRabbi Aviva Richman examines the idea of God as King in the Musaf Amidah for Rosh Hashana. This lecture was originally recorded in Elul 2021.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Shoftim: Torah Fueled by Our Questions
August 31, 2022 16:30 - 11 minutes - 11 MBParashat Shoftim deals with the structures and nature of leadership. Early in the parashah, one passage explains that someone who has a hard question should go to the centralized leadership to ask, and then must obey the answer, on penalty of death. The point seems to be about reinforcing the power and authority of central religious leadership. But in the arc of ongoing interpretation, these verses become a provocative jumping off point to reflect on the nature of the encounter between an in...
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Re'eh: Eat, Crave, Love
August 25, 2022 00:07 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBParashat Re’eh speaks of “desire” multiple times. From a religious perspective, we often think of desire in terms of how we may control it, or even completely suppress it. But actually religious life without desire is flat and one-dimensional. Ultimately, the richness and depth of our religious experience hinges on appreciating, valuing, and even cultivating desire. In Parashat Re’eh, we can trace an approach that embraces human craving and desire as a powerful mechanism to fully live a life...
R. Yitz Greenberg: Recreating Ourselves Through Teshuvah
August 22, 2022 17:27 - 47 minutes - 65.9 MBIn Halakhic Man, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik suggests that teshuvah - usually translated as “repentance” - is not to be narrowly defined as turning from sin. Rather, teshuvah prompts us to reconsider all our habits and routines, including those that are not necessarily sinful. Doing teshuvah is really an expression of our capacity for self-creation and identifying and realizing our own potential. The goal is to attain our individuality, autonomy, uniqueness and freedom As we move through the A...
Recreating Ourselves Trhough Teshuvah
August 22, 2022 17:27 - 47 minutes - 65.9 MBIn Halakhic Man, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik suggests that teshuvah - usually translated as “repentance” - is not to be narrowly defined as turning from sin. Rather, teshuvah prompts us to reconsider all our habits and routines, including those that are not necessarily sinful. Doing teshuvah is really an expression of our capacity for self-creation and identifying and realizing our own potential. The goal is to attain our individuality, autonomy, uniqueness and freedom As we move through the A...
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Eikev: Being Like God
August 17, 2022 17:07 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBNote: this Devar Torah relates to difficult subject matter, including loss and pregnancy loss. In Parashat Eikev, we are instructed to “walk in all of God’s ways,” but how is that possible for mortals? R. Yitz Greenberg has taught prolifically about being like God through a zealous commitment to the “triumph of life,” even when that is a challenging commitment to hold. Building upon his teachings, we can focus on an embrace of life that also involves integrating loss. Instead of loss as an o...
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Va'Ethanan: On Prayer and the Possible
August 10, 2022 18:47 - 12 minutes - 9.04 MBIn Parashat Va'Ethanan, Moshe beseeches God. He doesn’t get his request. Interestingly, the sages peg this moment of prayer as the entryway to explore the meanings of prayer more widely, jumping off from the word va'ethanan to list ten kinds of prayer connected to different verbs and different figures in the Torah. Taking Moshe’s unanswered prayer as the lens, we are invited into an exploration of what prayer is, entirely detached from the question of whether prayer is answered.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Devarim: Moshe's Second Song
August 03, 2022 15:18 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBIn Parashat Devarim, Moshe gives an account of Torah, reframing the journey in the desert for the next generation that will enter the land. Some commentaries find not so subtle subtexts in Moshe’s introductory remarks that create a bleak picture of Israel’s propensity to sin. Parashat Devarim always falls before Tisha b’Av, and this motif of rebuke aligns with a day that brings failures and destruction to the forefront of our minds. But taken in context, as the beginning of Moshe’s final spe...
R. Aviva Richman: Words That Make Or Break Our World
August 01, 2022 15:33 - 53 minutes - 73.1 MBProverbs teaches that "life and death are in the hands of the tongue." Rabbi Aviva Richman explores the power of words and how we can use speech to heal, rather than harm others. This lecture was originally delivered in January 2022 as the Dr. Eddie Scharfman Memorial Lecture.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Mattot-Masei: Moshe's Second Song
July 27, 2022 20:00 - 9 minutes - 8.4 MBIn Parashat Masei, Moshe receives detailed instructions about setting up cities of refuge. Unlike other mitzvot introduced as being relevant to when the people enter the land, Moshe can actually fulfill this mitzvah, at least in part. He makes sure to set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan river before he dies. This may seem tragic, a desperate grasp for a taste of entering the land when the full experience is entirely shut off. Instead, we can see his efforts as a climax of h...
R. Yitz Greenberg: The Triumph of Life, Part 3
July 25, 2022 16:02 - 1 hour - 93.2 MBIn the final part of this lecture series, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg speaks with Rabbi Tali Adler about how we can maximize the potential for life in our everyday actions. This lecture was originally recorded in Winter 2022 as part of a series in partnership with Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Pinchas: Moshe's Mitzvah for God
July 20, 2022 15:28 - 9 minutes - 9.04 MBIn this week’s parashah, we find a slight variation on one of the most common verses in the Torah. This minor shift in words reflects a profound revolution. At the end of his life, Moshe takes a leap in how he speaks to God, and how he shows up for the people.
R. Yitz Greenberg: The Triumph of Life, Part 2
July 18, 2022 12:43 - 1 hour - 87.9 MBIn the second part of his lecture series, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg speaks with Rabbi Aaron Alexander. Rabbi Greenberg explores the commandment to have children, quality of life, and situations where preserving life overrules religious obligations. This lecture was originally recorded in Winter 2022 as part of a series in partnership with Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Balak: A People’s Prophet, A Prophet’s People
July 13, 2022 18:57 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBIn Parashat Balak, the ruler of Moav calls on Bilam to curse Israel. God ends up putting words of blessing in his mouth, and he speaks prophetically about the people of Israel. The episode raises questions about prophecy—when it is and isn’t present, and for whom.
R. Yitz Greenberg: The Triumph of Life, Part 1
July 11, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 94.6 MBWhat does it mean to choose life in an imperfect world? Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, in conversation with Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, offers examples of how Judaism teaches us to repair the world in an effort to uphold the value of life. This lecture was originally recorded in Winter 2022 as part of a series in partnership with Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Chukkat: Critique and Creativity
July 06, 2022 15:10 - 9 minutes - 8.62 MBIn Parashat Chukkat, the people complain again about their food in the wilderness, but this complaint is different from earlier complaints. They don’t remember the food in Egypt with nostalgia, nor do they crave a particular item. They are disgusted with manna.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Korach: Fire and Flower
June 29, 2022 16:48 - 10 minutes - 9.99 MBIn Parashat Korach, there are multiple accusations against Moshe and Aharon’s leadership and dramatic responses. Instead of viewing these through the lens of rebellion and punishment, one can view the various “demonstrations” as conveying divergent messages about the nature of God and what religious leadership looks like. Between the cracks of a fiery and violent display of God’s power, there is also a hint of a gentle, nourishing, but no less powerful, force.
Dena Weiss: Making Shabbat Your Own, Part 2
June 27, 2022 16:20 - 26 minutes - 36.9 MBDena Weiss studies the Meor Einayim and explores what it means to refrain from spiritual work, not just physical labor, on Shabbat. This lecture is part 2 in a series originally recorded in November 2021.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Shelach: Believing in Ourselves, Owning Our Inheritance
June 22, 2022 18:15 - 9 minutes - 8.73 MBIn Parashat Shelach, twelve scouts scope out the promised land. They are on a mission to gain answers to specific questions, some about the land itself, and what kind of home it would be, and others about strategy for conquering the land. Fundamentally, it is a story of receiving an ancestral inheritance and doing the work to figure out what it will take to make it home.
R. Shai Held: Wanting God Near Us
June 20, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 87.6 MBRabbi Shai Held conducts a close reading of Psalm 139. He looks at the original Hebrew and multiple translations, arguing that the literary ambiguity showcases the psalmist’s relationship with God. This lecture was originally recorded in Summer 2020.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat BeHa'alotekha: A Small and Steady Light
June 15, 2022 17:55 - 9 minutes - 8.53 MBIn the simple instruction to kindle lamps in the mishkan, our interpretive tradition leaps into a theological spiral. What is the relationship between human light and divine light? The human role in creating light in the world becomes an opportunity to delve into the question of significance, or insignificance, of our efforts, and whether a sense of embarrassment is constructive or inhibiting.
R. Avi Strausberg: I Cannot Tell a Lie... Or Can I?
June 13, 2022 18:00 - 49 minutes - 67.7 MBIf someone you wouldn’t endorse asks you for a recommendation, what would you say? Discussing the ethics around truth and lying, Rabbi Avi Strausberg presents multiple approaches to the topic and asks what to do when there may not be a clear answer. This lecture was recorded at the Hadar Rabbinic Yeshiva Intensive in 2020.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Naso: One Mitzvah at a Time
June 08, 2022 18:20 - 8 minutes - 6.27 MBParashat Naso includes the ritual of sotah. A husband brings his wife whom he suspects of adultery to the mikdash (sanctuary) where a kohen gives her a potion of “cursed waters” that either acquit her or punish her. From our earliest sages to the present moment, many nuanced interpretations of this anomalous and troubling ritual have emerged. We will focus on one Rabbinic principle that applies to the procedure of sotah, but has much wider implications for other rituals, and paves the way to...
R. Tali Adler: Words That Cannot Be Written
June 07, 2022 16:20 - 48 minutes - 66.4 MBIt's easy to emphasize the giving of the written Torah at Mt. Sinai. But what if the focus should be on Oral Torah? R. Tali Adler looks at the essential role oral Torah plays as a part of the covenant between God and the Jewish people.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Bemidbar: Dismantling Holiness with Love
June 01, 2022 15:40 - 9 minutes - 6.9 MBAs Israel traveled through the desert, they frequently erected the mishkan (tabernacle) anew. This means that they also deconstructed the mishkan frequently, dismantling what had been sacred. When we are so aware of the logistics involved in creating spaces to facilitate a sublime experience, it can become demystifying, for better and for worse. In Parashat Bemidbar, we get a behind the scenes view of the logistics of holiness, and a profound message about how to balance the mystique of kedu...
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat BeHukotai: From Curse to Catalyst
May 25, 2022 17:15 - 8 minutes - 6.89 MBThe curses of BeHukotai resonate, and we can point to various societal failures that have contributed to this reality, reasons for God to be “angry” at us. Perhaps there is some efficacy in the fear and guilt that undergird the curses as we reach for a sense of control and agency. But severe problems are hardly so simple. As we face what is not a nightmarish curse but a harsh reality of uncertainty about sustainability and abundance, the punishment and guilt model might not serve us well. We...
Dena Weiss: Making Shabbat Your Own
May 23, 2022 14:50 - 1 hour - 82.4 MBWhat does it mean to have respect for Shabbat? Dena Weiss discusses how we can respect shabbat by making the day feel different through our clothing choices.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Behar: Shemittah - A Restrained and Wild Love
May 18, 2022 17:18 - 10 minutes - 8.15 MBShemittah (the sabbatical year) is considered one of the hardest mitzvot. But the mitzvah might not only be about inculcating discipline to the extreme. We can also understand Shemittah and Yovel (jubilee) as mitzvot meant to inculcate an extreme love.
R. Shai Held and Shira Hecht-Koller: The World as a Gift
May 16, 2022 18:30 - 48 minutes - 66.5 MBRabbi Shai Held and Shira Hecht-Koller take a deep dive into Psalm 104. Rabbi Shai Held explores the psalm line by line while Shira Hecht-Koller considers the perspective of a psalmist and what would inspire them to compose this type of poem.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Emor: God Who Desires Desire
May 11, 2022 19:20 - 9 minutes - 7.17 MBParashat Kedoshim explored the centrality of consent in a relationship with God, that one can’t be “coerced” to bring an offering. The importance of our will in sacred relationship goes beyond the basic need for consent. In Parashat Emor, we will develop another dimension of human will in sacrifices: the importance of intention and attentiveness. Sacred relationship becomes an exercise of cultivating radical ratzon.
Dena Weiss: Pride and Privilege
May 09, 2022 14:25 - 51 minutes - 70.7 MBWhat is our responsibility towards others who may feel jealous of what we have? Dena Weiss explores how to think about privilege and how we can act in a way that is sensitive to the experiences of those around us. This lecture was originally delivered as part of the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program in January 2022.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Kedoshim: Radical Ratzon
May 05, 2022 15:45 - 10 minutes - 7.59 MBAccording to many interpreters, we achieve kedushah by curbing our desire. Holiness, in this view, inextricably entails suppression of our will. Taken to its extreme, this can lead to a notion that being in relationship with God requires blind obedience and negation of ourselves. In contrast, it is also possible to understand kedushah in a way that features—rather than suppresses—our will. Through an expansive reading of the concept of ratzon (will), we can strive for an ethics of kedushah t...
R. Shai Held: Theology in a Time of Climate Emergency
May 02, 2022 15:35 - 43 minutes - 59.7 MBWe live in a time of unprecedented climate emergency: greenhouse gas emissions are causing vast and irreversible changes to the the Earth’s climate. How should religious people respond to the crisis? Rabbi Shai Held takes a theological approach and response to the climate crisis, considering how the Bible describes God’s relationship with the Earth and the challenges humans face when they forget the divine role in creation. This lecture was originally delivered as a part of the Big Bold Jewi...
R. Ethan Tucker: Midrash and Rabbinic Imagination, Part 3
April 10, 2022 12:40 - 49 minutes - 35.5 MBIn some rabbinic midrashim, biblical characters cross over into different story lines, creating whole new backgrounds for their characters. Rabbi Ethan Tucker looks at the stories of Boaz and Job to demonstrate that, by reading these new storylines, we learn important lessons we would otherwise miss. This is part 3 of Hadar's 2021 Fall Lecture Series.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Metzora: Speech That Heals
April 06, 2022 18:00 - 7 minutes - 5.97 MBLast week, in Parashat Tazria, we saw that our capability to be full partners in Torah is anchored in the messy and sometimes disorienting details of our embodied lives. In Parashat Metzora, we see the importance of narration, how giving voice to our experience plays an important role in a model of Torah and halakhah that conveys dignity and is a source of healing.
R. Ethan Tucker: Midrash and the Rabbinic Imagination, Part 2
April 03, 2022 17:05 - 50 minutes - 69.8 MB>Who are Hur, Yair ben Menashe, and Serah bat Asher and why do these minor biblical characters appear in midrash far removed from their own stories? Rabbi Ethan Tucker looks at each of their stories to demonstrate that their insertions are not random, but are based on close reading of the biblical narrative and a rabbinic desire to emphasize certain morals in the text. This is part 2 of Hadar's 2021 Fall Lecture Series.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Tazria: Torah Rooted in the Real
March 30, 2022 20:55 - 8 minutes - 6.41 MBTazria is a parashah that people often find more repelling than compelling. Why so many words dedicated to bodily emissions and the intricate appearance of skin diseases? This Torah of the body touches on the relationship between halakhah and individuals’ embodied experiences.
R. Ethan Tucker: Midrash and the Rabbinic Imagination, Part 1
March 28, 2022 00:30 - 51 minutes - 70.3 MBWhen a midrash seems so fantastical and outlandish that you conclude it must be made up, you are probably not reading the text as closely as the midrash. Rabbi Ethan Tucker demonstrates how the midrash justly describes the reemergence of early biblical figures in later biblical narratives, and uses these figures to teach values and fill in gaps in the text. This is part 1 of Hadar's 2021 Fall Lecture Series.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Shemini: Whiplash and Endurance
March 23, 2022 18:30 - 9 minutes - 14.8 MBIt is hard to imagine a parashah more devastating than Shemini, or more of a testament to the stamina of enduring relationship despite all. When we experience the events of this day through the inner worlds of Aharon and his wife Elisheva, there is much to learn about relationship that persists through guilt, anxiety, and loss.
R. Avi Strausberg: The Danger of Hope
March 20, 2022 18:00 - 53 minutes - 74.2 MBIn times of despair and sadness, hope plays an important role. But can there be danger from too much hope? R.Avi Strausberg explores a wide variety of sources from the Talmud to modern poetry to explore how we can incorporate hope into our lives without being crushed by hope of a world that never comes. This lecture was originally delivered as the Dr. Eddie Scharfman Memorial Lecture in January 2021.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Tzav: Constancy and Intermittence
March 16, 2022 13:30 - 9 minutes - 6.89 MBParashat Tzav opens with an image of constancy, the fire on the altar that always burns, never extinguished. The unextinguished fire is not just practical, burning sacrifices throughout the day and fats throughout the night; it represents an ongoing and unwavering connection between the people and God. Yet, an honest religious life involves flux, times when we do feel strong connection and times when we don’t.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Vayikra: "Calling In"
March 09, 2022 18:45 - 9 minutes - 6.47 MBThe first verse in Vayikra seems mundane and predictable; God speaks to Moshe in the mishkan (tabernacle), as God does throughout much of the Torah. Yet, the call of Vayikra is an unexpected gesture of intimacy. Through this lens, the whole book of Vayikra represents an invitation into relationship across apparent obstacles and boundaries. Vayikra asks of us: what are the ways in which we feel distant from God or others? What does it mean to hear a call beckoning us close in those very momen...
Dena Weiss: The Lost Sons of Avraham
March 07, 2022 15:00 - 46 minutes - 35.5 MBHow can Avraham bear to sacrifice his son Yitzchak without any show of emotion or despair? Dena Weiss offers an explanation to this question, using midrash to view the text through an emotional lens. This lecture was originally delivered as part of Hadar’s Summer Learning Retreat in June 2021.
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Pekudei: Shifting Expectations
March 02, 2022 17:45 - 8 minutes - 6.14 MBThe Book of Shemot ends in a striking tension: God’s presence fills the mishkan but also precludes Moshe from entering. Having shepherded the people into relationship with God, and having fought so hard to maintain that, Moshe now faces the possibility that the terms of his own relationship with God have drastically changed, as he is shut out of the mishkan. What can we learn from the model of Moshe about how to adapt to unexpected twists and turns in our own roles and relationships?